Public servants are the backbone of Canadian government. Canadians expect them to act in the best interest of society, to uphold Canadian democratic institutions, to steward public monies and to deliver programs and services.

But as retirements surge, how can governments attract young people to work for them? It's difficult when governments suffer from poor reputations, low public trust and offer working conditions that may not appeal to young people.

What do young Canadians want from their careers, and what will it take for public service to win them over?

This issue, among others concerning Canadian public servants, are currently being studied at the Professional Motivations Research Lab at Dalhousie University. The lab is led by the lead author of this piece, Dominika Wranik, whose work focuses on measuring and explaining the motivations of professionals in the public service.

The lab's insights shed light on the factors that influence how young people make decisions about whether to work for the public sector.

In 1966, there were 7.7 working-age individuals for every senior in Canada. But in 2022, the ratio dropped to 3.4 and is projected to drop further over the next decade.

A labour shortage will create increased competition for top talent between the public and private sector, an issue for governments as research has shown a growing disinterest among youth in pursuing civil service careers.

Recruitment to the public service is further complicated by declining perceptions of competence and trust in Canadian public institutions. With studies demonstrating that applicants' perceptions of an organization's competence affect their attraction to working there, Canadian governments also run the risk of losing potential applicants who don't view Canada's public institutions as being competent or trustworthy.

These challenges come as young Canadians enter the workforce with more career options than ever before, and different expectations from previous generations.

Young Canadians are not solely interested in high incomes, but also in workplaces that provide a healthy work/life balance and align with their values.

Data collected in 2024, for example, shows that 87 per cent of British Columbians between the ages of 18 and 34 prefer employers that are socially and environmentally responsible, with 61 per cent stating they would only work for such companies.

This means Canadian governments are currently finding themselves in a perilous situation, where rising suspicion about their trustworthiness and competence, paired with growing disinterest in the public sector as a whole, means they're not positioned well to navigate an impending labour shortage.

Strengthening their capacity to attract and recruit the next generation of workers is therefore imperative, not only for upholding public institutions, but also for rebuilding trust in government.

In the effort to resolve this issue and enhance recruitment to the public service, Canadian government officials must pore over existing research into the factors that determine why youth and those just entering the labour market - people between the ages of 13 to 27, known as Gen Z - pursue or refrain from pursing public service jobs.

Some research suggests the three variables that potentially predict whether a member of Gen Z is inclined to pursue a career in the public sector are:

In terms of perceptions of the public sector, a recent study found that when choosing between the public and private sectors, university students in Norway and Poland were most influenced by their views of the public sector.

The more positive the outlook - for example, that public sector work is considered less bureaucratic and less inefficient - the higher the preference to work in the public sector, and vice versa.

This finding was echoed by racialized minorities in the United States. A 2022 study found that Black, Asian and Latinx young adults between the ages of 18-36 were largely turned off by government work due to perceptions that they weren't represented or well-served by their "largely white, male and wealthy" local, state or federal government representatives.

In Canada, a study led by the Public Policy Forum discovered that perceptions of the nature of government work also had a significant impact on a student's decision to pursue a career in the public sector. Students who chose to enter the public service cited "opportunities to examine a wide range of complex challenges and help create policy solutions that can have a positive impact on many communities."

In terms of having public service motivation (PSM) - which refers to an individual's inclination to serve the public interest - studies have found that members of Gen Z are more likely to be drawn to the public sector if they are high in PSM.

Specifically, a study of Gen Z students in criminal justice programs found that those who identified with PSM tenets - such as "meaningful public service is very important to me" and "making a difference in society means more to me than personal achievements" - had a significantly higher likelihood of choosing the public sector over the private sector.

Similarly, an interdisciplinary sample of undergraduate students with higher levels of PSM - and who therefore identified with the PSM dimensions of self-sacrifice, compassion and commitment to public values - were more likely to have a preference for the public sector.

Preferred job attributes also influence the employment choices of members of Gen Z. The aforementioned research on Norwegian and Polish youth and another 2017 study by Canada's Public Policy Forum (2017) find that when Gen Z students are interested in public sector work, it's due to the semblance of financial and job security.

Given the growing disinterest among the Canadian population in pursuing employment in the public sector, new insights about what attracts Gen Z workers to the public sector should be required reading by governments across Canada.

Read more: Public service reflections: Why the role of civil servants must evolve to ensure public trust

Understanding Gen Z's misgiving about public sector work will help better position governments to compete with the private sector to recruit the next generation of employees.

With perceptions of government competence and trustworthiness continuing to fall, it is imperative that Canadian public policymakers take significant steps to engage with Gen Z students and workers to create employment conditions that are attractive and aligned with their values.

The next generation of government leaders in Canada are currently in high school, college or university classrooms across the country, meaning that research centred in educational institutions is uniquely positioned to uncover valuable regarding how public sector employment is perceived.

Therefore, government-led engagement that is conducted through town halls, workshops and focus groups can help strengthen trust in government while familiarizing Gen Z students with government careers.